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The pandemic has been more than difficult for everyone, but it has also taught us a very important lesson, i.e, to take care of our health. Amid the pandemic, people realised that healthcare is not only for when one falls sick but one needs to have a healthy lifestyle to prevent diseases.

Entrepreneur Vikas Gupta realised the importance of focusing on preventive healthcare years ago. In 2016, he co-founded MyDiagnostics along with Srinivasa Vivek, Muruganandam N, and Vignesh Babu. The co-founders know each other as they are neighbours in the same apartment complex. 

The Bengaluru-based startup allows users to book lab tests and offers health checkup packages online. It has partnered with NABL, ISO, CAP certified labs across the country to provide testing and diagnosis services at home.

Speaking to YourStory, Vikas explains that he realised there was a need to encourage the preventive healthcare segment in India. 

“The kind of preventive care available in countries like the US talks about the latest science around the gut microbiome and metabolism-related tests, which directly touches the root cause of diseases, and that is what we want to focus on. Along with it, we wanted to make it a digital fist and at-home care brand,” he adds.

Amid the pandemic, the startup also included COVID-19 testing services from home where users could book the test online and lab partners would come and collect the sample from home.

Focus on preventive healthcare

Vikas says that MyDiagnostics operates on a D2C model where users can directly book the tests from the official website. He also reveals that the startup is currently working on a mobile app, which will be launched in the next two months.

Apart from the tests, MyDiagnosis is also offering its users online consultation with in-house medical experts after they get test results to understand the next steps to be taken by the user.

The co-founder reveals that apart from total health checkups, blood tests, and nutritional tests, MyDiagnostics also offers neurotransmitter tests for the brain, gut health tests, etc. 

“On our website and our app, we will focus on community building to encourage people to be aware of their health and nutrition, among others,” he says.

Speaking about MyDiagnostics’ COVID-19 efforts, Vikas adds that apart from RT-PCR tests, it also offers to post COVID-19 health monitoring blood tests such as D Dimer, CRP, LDH, and IL-6 Plus, among others, to understand the complications.

“The demand for COVID-19 tests has surged almost five times during the second wave compared to the first wave. Apart from this, we have also noticed a shift in consumer mindset where people are now opting for total health checkups to keep a check on their health,” he adds.

Business and more

MyDiagnostics operates on a D2C model where the consumers have to pay for booking the tests. However, the consultations post-tests are complimentary. The prices depend on the tests that need to be done.

Vikas claims that the startup is currently doing over a thousand tests per month. MyDiagnostics is currently present in 14 cities across the country and is planning to expand to 100 cities by 2023.

“We work on a hybrid model where a few special tests are done in-house by MyDiagnostics, while many other tests are done in partnership with testing labs such as Thyrocare, Nexus, Metropolis, Core Diagnostics, and Dr. Lal Path Labs, among others,” he says.

The pandemic has accelerated the growth of healthtech segment in India. According to IAMAI-Praxis report titled ‘HealthTech Predictions 2021,’ the Indian healthtech market is growing at a CAGR of  39 percent and is expected to reach $5 billion by 2023. Similar to MyDiagnostics, Hyderabad-based DoctorC allows users to book tests online and get them done from the comfort of their homes.

Speaking about future plans, the co-founder reveals that the startup is looking to raise external funding to expand into more test offerings and to expand its presence in more cities. MyDiagnostics’ parent company Pytheos Health Systems, claims to have raised angel and HNI investments from undisclosed investors.

“Apart from this, physical centres will also be introduced where people can go and give test samples. We are also looking to launch clinical grade ECG tests at home for people who might have chronic heart conditions,” he says.